Languages

[Caliga]

You conveniently forgot Hebrew.

I don't know any Hebrew at all. 

Go back to Hebrew School young man. 

[Caliga]

Actually, the "putting on airs" part more globally goes to your attempts to play the role of encyclopedia brown.

Einstein Anderson > Encyclopedia Brown. 

[Admiral Yi]

Saying nihongo is like using gwailo (sp?).  The people who understand will understand and those who don't can ask if they want.

BTW does anyone know how to say Mandarin and Cantonese in Mandarin and Cantonese?

[Sheilbh]

BTW does anyone know how to say Mandarin and Cantonese in Mandarin and Cantonese?

Mono and Jacob may have an idea.  If they ever get here

[Caliga]

There are transliterations on Wiki.  From what I can tell:

Mandarin: Guān Huà
Cantonese: Yuè Yǔ

[Neil]

You could say japanese you know 

Meh. I just prefer to call languages by their native names as a matter of preference. I could just as easily have said German, Spanish, Japanese, and French, but I decided against it.

Wow.  Your level of pretension is absolutely stunning.

[Admiral Yi]

There are transliterations on Wiki.  From what I can tell:

Mandarin: Guān Huà
Cantonese: Yuè Yǔ

Shit.  There's no way to remember that gobbledy gook.

[garbon]

Einstein Anderson > Encyclopedia Brown. 

I hated the latter.

[Caliga]

 

[Monoriu]

Saying nihongo is like using gwailo (sp?).  The people who understand will understand and those who don't can ask if they want.

BTW does anyone know how to say Mandarin and Cantonese in Mandarin and Cantonese?

In Cantonese:

Mandarin: there is more than one way to say "Mandarin" in Cantonese.  The most common way is "Po Tung Wah" - literally, "ordinary language".  Another, less common expression is "Gwok Yu", which means the "national language". 

Cantonese: Gwong Dong Wah.  As you can guess, the "wah" means language.  "Yu" also means language, but "yu" is more formal than "wah".  We usually say "wah" but write "yu".  In Cantonese, the written and spoken forms can be quite different.  Yet another word that means language is "Man".  It is important to know when to say what.  "Wah" is usually associated with dialects or spoken languages.  "Ying" is the abbreviation of "England".  So to say "English" in Cantonese, we say "Ying Man" or "Ying Yu".  The latter is more formal than the former.  "Ying Wah" is not acceptable.  It is hard, so stop learning 

In Mandarin:

Mandarin: Pu Tong Hwah.  It may look pretty similar to Cantonese, but the tone and stress are actually quite different. 
Cantonese: Guang Dong Hwah. 

[Monoriu]

One thing that annoys me to no end is the westerners' fascination with languages.  They love learning new languages; they expect other people to learn their languages, and they want to learn Chinese when they are in Hong Kong.  But a lot of them don't appreciate that the barrier between English and Chinese is much more formidable than, say, the rift between English and French.  Most of the Chinese-learners speak extremely crappy Cantonese, to the point that it is completely unintelligible.  Yet they insist in saying it.  Another thing is, when I see a Caucausion face, I expect to process English.  I just cannot understand your crappy Cantonese so please stop trying 

[DisturbedPervert]

Another thing is, when I see a Caucausion face, I expect to process English.  I just cannot understand your crappy Cantonese so please stop trying 

This is why I've always refused to speak English with Orientals.  I just cannot understand their fobbish English and wish they would just go bring me the cashew chicken.

[Monoriu]

Another thing is, when I see a Caucausion face, I expect to process English.  I just cannot understand your crappy Cantonese so please stop trying 

This is why I've always refused to speak English with Orientals.  I just cannot understand their fobbish English and wish they would just go bring me the cashew chicken.

I thought your job is to teach them

[Admiral Yi]

Mandarin: Pu Tong Hwah.  It may look pretty similar to Cantonese, but the tone and stress are actually quite different. 
Cantonese: Guang Dong Hwah.

Interesting.  The Korean word for ordinary is potong.  And everyone knows Guang Dong is the new, hip way of saying Canton.  So maybe I can remember those.

[Razgovory]

Meh. I just prefer to call languages by their native names as a matter of preference. I could just as easily have said German, Spanish, Japanese, and French, but I decided against it.

Don't worry, we're used to you putting on airs.

I am surprised though that you've only admitted to being fluent in one other language!

Agree.  Airs were put on.